Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition eBook

CHAPTER XV.

Well, Blandina wanted to go to the Anthropological
Buildin’. She said Professor Todd had recommended
it. I should knowed he would choose that spot
in preference to any other. I hadn’t a idee
what it meant, but didn’t feel obleeged to tell
her so, but spozed it wuz sunthin’ hard to tackle,
judgin’ from the name, but told her I wuz willin’
to go to see it or her or him,
not knowin’ which it would turn out to be.
But come to find out it wuz everything relatin’
to the history of man, and spozed that wuz one reason
why Blandina wuz interested in it.

It wuz a monstrous big buildin’, and in it and
outside on’t wuz exhibits from all the different
countries of the world, showin’ the difference
in the races of mankind, their difference through
all the ages, anatomy, industries, customs, education,
different religious rites, games, books and pictures,
maps illustrating mankind and his works, etc.,
and I could fill a dozen pages with etcs., and not
half exhaust the contents of the immense buildin’.

Blandina wuz in her glory here, she wuz studyin’
in full magesty the history of her idol, man.
But as I told her, I spozed the term, man, included
woman also. But she looked dubersome, she didn’t
like the idee I could see, and Josiah didn’t.
But I knowed I wuz right, and I guess Molly thought
so too.

This is the most complete gathering of the world’s
people and races that has ever been got together,
and includes different types, from the smallest pigmies
from Central Africa to the Patagonian giants.
Josiah wuz delighted to learn of the strength of these
pigmies, how they kill elephants and rhinocerhorses,
and sez he, “I tell you, Samantha, it hain’t
size that counts, it is most always the smallest men
that are the smartest, looked at Napoleon and me.”

But I whispered to him to keep still, for he wuz attractin’
attention, and I led the way to see the giants.
But he looked coldly on ’em, and sez he:

“They hain’t thought much on, it speaks
about their mean statter in the guide books.”

But I thought to myself how handy it would be to have
one on ’em in the neighborhood to rent out by
the day to whitewash overhead or shingle the barn;
they wouldn’t even have to git up in a chair,
and Id’no but they could lay a chimbly standin’
on the ground; they wuz immense.

And there wuz displays of the works and habits and
native surroundin’s of the lowest types from
the beginnin’ of the stun age up to the present
finished glory of Jonesville and the world at large.
And I wondered what, what would be the glory showed
off a hundred years from now, what hites would men
stand on, sailin’ round through the air and comin’
from other planets to the show like as not jest as
easy as we come from Jonesville. And where will
Josiah and I be then? That wuz another thought
that hanted me, and what would we be lookin’
on? ’Tennyrate I hope we will be together
wherever it is.